An Orphan & Two Octolings
by ProbablyNotJesus
Summary: Shark, an orphan who dreams of becoming a professional author, is kicked out of the orphanage he lives in before he turns eighteen. The only cheap housing he could find is a vacant room in a house with two Octolings. With them, he gets dragged into a world he never wanted to be dragged into. Good luck, Shark.
1. Chapter I

**Why Did It Have to Be Octolings?**

Shark rang the doorbell a second time, hearing a faint ringing noise through the wall. Leaning back against the wooden railing of the front porch, he waited for the door to open.

The house and property were nice enough; out here in the countryside, he would have no problem writing. It would be nice and quiet. The house itself looked well-kept as well; no, what he dreaded were the two people living inside.

He had lived in an orphanage for his whole life, until one day (A week ago, to be precise,) he was kicked out for being too old. He wasn't even legally and adult yet! He had a decent way to get money, or rather, he WOULD once somebody actually published one of his works. But for now he needed a place to live. And he had found one. Unfortunately, it also happened to be the home of two octolings.

Octolings had been allowed in inkling society for some time, but they were frowned upon and viewed with suspicion. In short, the inklings were being a bunch of racist fucks; but they had good reason, and it wasn't as though the octolings didn't do the same thing.

His dark blue tentacles waved in the wind, set up in a loose hairstyle, with three tentacles spiked up above his forehead. His eyes were dark purple, almost black. But he didn't care about his appearance very much.

The door opened abruptly, surfacing him out of his thoughts. An octoling girl appeared in the doorway; she looked to be about two or three years older than him. Her tentacles, longer than an average octolings, were dark crimson and tied into a long ponytail that hung over her left shoulder. She wore a tight-fitting dark green tank top that made her already large bust look bigger, as well as purple shorts that were just as tight as her top. "Come on in!" She said, smiling and gesturing with one hand.

His face flushed when he saw her large breasts, but no matter how his body reacted, his thoughts were about something else: whether or not he could trust her. He assumed she wouldn't be killing him in his sleep or anything, but he didn't think it would be very pleasant to live around someone of her species.

She grinned when she saw him blushing. "Aw, you're such a cutie. Don't be shy; I won't bite. Quilla might, though, so be carefull."

Shark hesitantly stepped inside, the rich aroma of dark chocolate hitting him almost immediately. He looked around, taking in his surroundings. The walls, at least the ones in this room, were painted a calm, very dark green color. The trim was wood stained to have a reddish hue, and the ceiling was a light gray. The floor was carpeted the same color as the ceiling. The room was pretty large, two identical couches lined up in an 'L' shape facing a TV sitting in a corner, while a desk with a computer sitting on it graced the wall directly to his left. Straight ahead of him were two doors, and on the wall to his left there was a flight of stairs. Next, on the far side of the room, a doorway led into what seemed to be a dining room/kitchen area. The floor behind it was hardwood, not carpeted. Bookshelves seemed to line almost every wall, packed with books, games, movies, you name it.

"Shark, right? I'm Sabre." The octoling said, closing the door and walking over to the open doorway. "Do you want some breakfast?"

"Yes, actually, I would, thank you." He replied, setting his suitcase down for a minute and stretching his arms.

"You want anything specific, or...?" Sabre questioned.

"Anything will do." He said, picking up his luggage again. "Erm, may I ask where my room is?"

"You'll be staying in the bedroom upstairs, the one just to your right when you first walk up the stairs." She stepped into the kitchen. "You can make yourself comfortable while I make you something. Now, where did I put the eggs..."

Shark nodded and climbed the flight of stairs, eager to be able to sleep in a bed again. He had been lucky to find a place that didn't cost very much, and yet despite the cozy space and quiet property, he was put on edge by the idea of living with octolings. At least the one he had already met was nice enough, he supposed, but there was something... off about her. He couldn't put a finger on what it was.

Opening the door to his room, he stepped inside. Just a standard room, with light, washed-out walls, the same trim and carpeting as before, a generic bed, bedside table, and lamp, a dresser with a couple extra drawers, some shelves, a desk, and- holy shit, were those arcade machines?!

He walked over to the corner, where three classic-style arcade machines did indeed sit. There was Squid Jump, Squid ball, and Squid Racer respectively, all of them turned off at the moment. "Maybe this won't be so bad after all..." He mused, before rememebering the real reason he came up here.

He opened his suitcase, putting his clothes away in their respective dresser drawers and setting his laptop on the desk. He set a few pictures on the bedside table, one of an inkling girl and the other one picturing the same inkling girl, but with him in the shot as well. Taking out his old phone, he pluged it in to the wall with his charger and turned it on.

[GreatWhite]: _Just got to my new home. Gonna take a lot of time to get used to living with octolings._

[SmallMediumAtLarge]: _They friendly?_

[GreatWhite]: _The one I already met seems to be. I dunno about the other._

[handsaw_of_doom]: _Is_ _she hot?_

[GreatWhite]: _She's an OCTOLING, fuck you, dude._

[handsaw_of_doom]: _I know THAT, I asked if she was hot._

[SmallMediumAtLarge]: _Shut up, Saw. Anyways, you're lucky. At least you don't owe a huge debt to anybody. Us two have to pay in full for living space._

[GreatWhite]: _You guys don't get to complain until you're actually deported from Orphanland._

Shark heard a knock on the door to his new living space. "You have some eggs and toast on the table if you want 'em." Sabre's voice was muffled by the door, echoing slightly.

[GreatWhite]: _Gotta do something, see ya._

He set his phone down, following Sabre downstairs to where his breakfast lay.

* * *

Shark sat at his desk, flipping through a large notebook labelled 'Writing'. Many of the pages were full, cluttered with notes, crossed out words, as well as actual paragraphs here or there. It was a huge mess, but he eventually found a mostly blank page and started jotting down sentences and phrases.

Once he had made sure his sudden burst of ideas were all written down in his notebook, he opened his laptop and opened up a word processing program. He scrolled through the files, sometimes pausing to look at the names. There were a lot of them; a _lot_ a lot. Many also had the word 'Finished', in parentheses, at the end of the title. Some read 'Editing' or 'Editing More' or 'Rewrite?'. Looking over the ones that read 'Finished', he moved some of the older ones to a folder simply labelled ':('.

Many of the finished stories he had been throwing at publishers for months, even years, and not one hadeven considered them. He didn't understand why; his writing was really good. Maybe he needed to focus more on plot and characters? Yeah, he would probably have to do that.

Opening up a new document, he started to type the beginnings of his new story. Even though it was the forst draft, he found himself re-writing it over and over again as he went. Cprrecting mistakes, changing names, changing EVERYTHING... this went on for hours, and it was his usual pattern. Nothing stayed the same throughout the making of whatever piece he was writing.

And the hours passed. And passed. Suddenly, he felt the urge to get something to eat. Finally snapping out of his writing trance, he grabbed his phone and looked at the time, hoping he hadn't spent half the day writing.

He had. It was about three o'clock in the afternoon, and he hadn't had anything to eat for about seven hours. Perfect.

Stepping out of his room and silently closing the door behind him, he stepped down the stairs into the main room. Sabre was lying on one of the two couches,her arm resting on its back. She was watching some action movie that Shark didn't know a thing about.

He walked over to the other side of the couch, and attempted to ask if he could have something to eat. However, it came as random gibberish strung together by lots of 'um's. ' _Holy Cod, why does she wear such tight clothing?! Doesn't she have an ounce of decency?!_ ' He thought, face flushed. ' _And I just made myself look like an idiot._ '

Sabre looked at him, grinning. "You're adorable. I presume you're asking for food?"

He ignored her comment. "Yes, that."

"There's stuff in the kitchen. Help yourself, just don't make a mess." She returned to staring at the screen. "Oh, yeah, and Quilla's coming home soon, so I should tell you that it's not a good idea to provoke her. She... doesn't like inklings very much."

Shark nodded, eager to fill the gaping hole that was his stomach. He marched into the kitchen, first opening the breadbox. It was pretty large for a breadbox, and had a loaf of sliced bread, some hot dog buns, and a package of bagels.

He grabbed a couple of bagels, and set them on a paper plate. (They were stacked on the counter.) He dug around in the fridge for a moment before grabbing something and taking it out. ' _Jackpot!_ ' He unwrapped half of the cream cheese, then remembered he actually needed to have something to spread it with. He looked around for a minute before finding the correct drawer and taking a tavle knife out.

As soon as he had spread the cream cheese on the inside of the bagel, which had already been cut into halves, he heard a door open loudly.

"I'm home, sis." He heard an unfamiliar voice state. "I'm gonna go get something to eat, then I'll lay down... I'm sooo tired."

"Wait just a minute!" Sabre said, a hint of worry in her voice. "I need to tell you something firs- hey, wait!"

The other octoling, who he assumed was Quilla, walked into the kitchen. The first thing he noticed was her jet black tentacles. The very next thing he noticed has the fact that, unlike her sister, she actually decided to wear clothes that _didn't_ intentionally show off almost every pat of her body. This, in and of itself, was a blessing.

And, of course, Sabre had forgotten to actually tell her that he was coming today. She jumped back upon seeing him. "WHO ARE YOU?!" She demanded, her fists up in a defensive position.

"Woah, woah, cool down," Shark replied a bit uneasily, taking a step back. "Your sister told you that you'd be getting a tenant, right?"

Quilla thought for a bit before facepalming and stepping towards the refrigerator. "Oh... I knew I was forgetting something. Sorry about that, I guess." She looked over to him. "But that doesn't mean I trust you. We both know that neither of us is willing to trust each other, so don't even pretend."

Her words confused him, a little bit. "Okay then?"

She opened the fridge, grabbing a small plastic cup. "I will give you one bit of advice, however; be careful around Sabre. I might attack you for something, sure, but Sabre... Eh, you'll see, if she does it. And if she doesn't, then you don't need to know." She tossed the cup into the microwave and turned the machine on, putting in a time and BOOM instant noodles.

She went up the stairs after she was done with the cheap but fast 'meal', presumably to go to bed as she had said earlier.

He stared as she left. ' _Did she just say that she might attack me?!_ ' He hoped she was joking, especially the part about Sabre. What _does_ she do, anyway? Now he was curious, but also had a feeling that he didn't want to find out.

 **A/N: Usually, my author's notes will be at the end of the chapter, like this. Remember, the more reviews I get, the faster I will update. This also goes for follows and favorites.**


	2. Chapter II

**A Regular Saturd** **ay... I Hope**

Shark awoke to a flash of lightning and the loud rumbling of distant thunder. Rain was pounding against the windows.

Sitting up and mumbling something along the lines of 'stupid storm', he rubbed his eyes and opened them fully. Senses flooding back to him, he suddenly realized that there was someone, or something, in the room with him. Heavy, deep breathing came from somewhere over near the windows.

And that's when he realized the rain WASN'T hitting the glass of the windows. He could hear the rain much too clearly for that to be the case. He was scared at first; he didn't want to think about being hit by a sheet of rain. At all.

Blinking his eyes, he slowly adjusted to the darkness, and recognized the silhouette of an inkling by the window. And, in fact, the windows were open. The rain was battering the screen, keeping much of the water from entering, but he assumed some managed to get in. So why was she sitting next to it?

And more importantly, why was she in his room in the first place?

Clearing his throat, he glared at her. He reached over to his bedsifde table and turned on the small lamp. "Why are you in here?!" He demanded.

The octoling jumped as soon as he turned on the light. She scrambled to stand up, her face red; he recognized her as Quilla. The dim light of the moon reflected off of her black tentacles. "N-none of your business!" She squeaked, attempting to sound threatening but failing.

"I think it _is_ my business." Shark replied. "Just tell me what you were doing."

"Why should I?"

"Because if you don't, then I'll just kick you out and make sure your sister knows." In truth, he knew this wasn't very threatening. But it was all he had to say, so he went with it.

Quilla looked back at the window, then to Shark again. "I was... listening to the rain." She admitted, twiddling her thumbs. It was then he noticed the sores along her arms, most likely there because of the rain.

"The _rain_?! Are you _crazy_?!" He said, wide-eyed. "Why would you do that?! Rain is one of the most dangerous things in the world! Who would enjoy the sound of rain?!"

"Again, it's none of your business!" She huffed, clenching her fists.

He sighed. "Okay, fine. But why my room?"

"My window doesn't have a screen, so if I opened it all the rain would be able to come in." She replied, tapping her foot impatiently.

Shark glanced at the clock hanging from the wall; it read 3:37. "...Al-alright then. Go back to your listening, I guess. I'm going back to sleep." And with that, he turned off the lamp and pulled his covers back over himself.

Quilla stared at him for a minute. "Uh, okay then." And she proceeded to sit back down and relax.

* * *

Shark opened his eyes once more, this time without the help of a giant blast of thunder. He didn't have to turn the lamp on, as sunlight streamed through the open windows. Quilla was, in fact, still sitting at the chair, but was asleep. Her head rested on the windowsill, using her crossed arms as a pillow.

He didn't want to wake her up, for fear of getting punched in the face, but he also didn't want to undress with her in the room, so he just kind of sat there awkwardly. He did that for a while before he decided that he could get dressed in his closet, however cramped it was. And that was just what he did.

Walking down the stairs, he was greeted with the smell of hotdogfish sizzling on a pan. He strolled into the kitchen, and saw exactly what he expected; Sabre, wearing only as much clothing as she did the day before, in front of the stove. Her tentacles were in the same hairstyle as before, a long ponytail, but were slightly more curly and messy.

"'Morning." She greeted, raising a hand. "Took you long enough to get up."

"What do you mean?"

"Look at the clock."

And look at the clock he did. It was relatively late to be getting up, at about 10:00 AM.

He remained silent, and simply took a seat at the table. He didn't quite trust either of these people yet, and he doubted he was going to anytime soon. In fact, he already regretted falling asleep with Quilla in the room; she could have killed him in his sleep if she wanted. He should probably keep his door locked, then.

Soon enough Sabre turned off the stove and moved the hotdogfish onto a plate. She set it in the middle of the table, along with some condiments. "QUILLA!" She called, forming a funnel arounf her mouth with her hands. After a few seconds, a reply was heard, before Quilla walked down the stairs and made her way to the kitchen.

"Hey, sis." She said, taking a seat at the table as far away from Shark as she could be.

Sabre set some plates, a hotdogfish resting on each one, out in front of each of them. She leaned into Shark, resting her arm son his shoulders. "Want a coffee?"

Shark's face flushed a very deep shade of red, as he felt her breasts press into his back. ' _I give up... can't she at least put on a bra?!_ ' "Uh, sure?"

"What kind? We have..." She listed off several different flavors and blends of coffee.

Shark, uncomfortable and unhappy that this moment was being stretched out, gave a quick reply. "Whichever type is the cheapest."

"You sure?"

"Y-yes."

He breathed out a quiet sigh of relief once she left to the other side of the room, preparing a mug of coffee. He took a bite of his hotdogfish, taking his mind off of the feel of her- (Editor: Hey! You're pushing the rating here...) If nothing else, at least he could enjoy the food.

Finishing his breakfast, he set his plate in the sink before heading up the stairs to write, as he did the day before, but then Sabre spoke. "So, I got you two some tickets to a Turf War. Inky Rain versus The Scuttle Squad."

Quilla froze. "Wait, just me and him?!"

Sabre chuckled. "I have work to do. You'll be leaving for Inkopolis at 11:00."

Shark forced himself not to curse. He didn't want to be seen in public with an octoling! Sure, his two friends would know why, but they're only two people... and they'd care much less than most people anyway. At that thought, he suddenly started to wonder if he'd run into them.

"Do I _have_ to?" Quilla grumbled.

"Yes. You two need to learn to get along, because I don't want to have to deal with any fights and crap. You only have twenty minutes before the bus arrives, so get ready and head over to the bus stop."

Quilla groaned, Shark doing the same inside his head, and they both went to their own rooms to change and grab whatever they decided they needed.

* * *

Quilla frowned, noting the snickers of the inklings around them as they boarded the bus. She hated Shark. She already got enough bad looks as it is, and now this stupid inkling had to come and live in the same house as her for no damn reason. Now she had even more of this to deal with.

She found a seat that was reasonably isolated, towards the back, and started walking towards it. Now even the other octolings were giving her looks. Stupid stupid stupid inkling!

It was like that throughout the entire ride to Inkopolis. It's not as if she had expected anything different, though. And it was like that when they made their way through the city, as well, only worse.

They eventually made their way into the stands of a Turf War stadium, the crowd already roaring even though the match hadn't started yet.

"You see any good seats?" Shark asked, not looking at her. She knew what he meant by 'good'.

"No, not yet... Wait, over there!" She pointed towards a large empty space, near one of the scoreboards. It was in the shade, away from anyone else.

Of course, they sat there, and made it over just in time as the announcer's voice boomed. "ARE YOU READY FOR SOME TURF WARS?!

The crowd cheered louder. Both Shark and Quilla sat awkwardly, hooing that the match would be short.

"LET'S BEGIN!" If it were possible, the crowd cheered even louder. "ON THE EAST SIDE, WE HAVE... INKY RAIN!" A team of inklings emerged from their spawn pad, their ink color being lime green. "AND ON THE WEST SIDE, WE HAVE...

* * *

The girl waited in her ink, dreading the moment when she had to emerge. As a stand-in for a stand-in, and a new member as well, she was bound to be the weakest link. A weak link that would definetly break.

"THE SCUTTLE SQUAD!"

She fearfully sprouted up out of the pad, Splat Charger shaking in her hands. She was a cuttling, like an inkling or octoling but a cuttlefish instead of squid or octopi. Her five thin tentacles hung behind her head, swaying in the wind. She tightened her grip around her weapon, the green marks between her eyes creasing as she squinted.

And then the whistle blew.

"GO!"

 **A/N: Yeah, yeah, it's short and it's only setup for the next chapter, but we introduced a new character! You'll find out who she is next chapter. I'm sorrry it's so short, but I'm tired and I can't post for a while after tonight, so this is all you get for now. ¡Olé!**

 **Have a good thing happen to you sometime within the next twenty years!**

 _ **\- Fallen**_


	3. Chapter III

**Turf War!**

Shark stared on with interest as the battle started, each team spreading ink as fast as they could. Strange as it was, it wasn't often he saw any sort of turf war. It wasn't that he didn't like turf wars; no, he found them quite exciting. It was just that he always had better stuff to do, or just wasn't in the mood. And he hadn't participated in many turf wars, either. He wasn't very familiar with the course, which matched Blackbelly Skatepark.

Neither team seemed to have any real advantage, as far as he could tell; the very center of the battlefield wavered back and forth, neither team bending to the other. It went on for a long time, before a lucky sniper shot splatted two inklings at once and allowed the team with green ink, Scuttle Squad, to push forwards.

"However, Inky Rain is quick to retaliate, and two of Scuttle Squad's members explode in a burst of orange ink! There doesn't seem to be anything the two remaining members can do to hold their current position, so they attempt to retreat. Unfortunately for them, one of them was quickly splatted as well, leaving the last one to hold Inky Rain back until the others return!" The announcer shouts.

Swimming up to the top of the large tower in the center, he charged up his Splatling and layed down heavy fire along the many entrances. This would halt them for at least a little while, or so Shark thought. But one splatling can only do so much.

You see, Inky Rain was a squad known for its amazing snipers. Three of the members wielded chargers, using a Splatterscope, Classic Squiffer, and Bamboozler Mk II respectively. Their fourth member used a Splattershot Jr., and focused heavily on inking turf. This proved to be useful when taking out one inkling who was in plain sight, of course.

"The entirety of Inky Rain rushes for the center, taking it easily without anyone to stop the- oh, wait, Scuttle Squad has come back!"

Sure enough, the two members of Scuttle Squad that were first splatted appeared, and started fighting for control of the center once again. Soon, their two other comrades joined them as well. And the the see-sawing pattern resumed.

Shark watched, wide-eyed. "Cod, they're really good..."

"Not really." Quilla replied. "They're only B+ Ranks. I'm a B, and I'm slowly climbing towards their level. It's not that amazing. Holding an S Rank is what's amazing."

Shark nodded, surprised that she actually said anything. Granted, it wasn't as if she were being friendly, but at least she wasn't hissing at him when she spoke. "...Do you think you'll ever be able to get an S Rank?" He asked.

Before she could respond, (If she _was_ going to respond, anyways,) A voice rang out extremely loudly on the speakers. "AND SCUTTLE SQUAD STEALS THE WIN! LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THE NEXT ROUND: SPLAT ZONES!"

The crowd started cheering. Aparrently Scuttle Squad was a crowd favorite? Shark didn't know, and he didn't care. He just wanted more action; this was the first time he felt like this in a while... Although it was very hard to forget that he was sitting next to an octoling.

Inky Rain seemed to step up their performance a bit, fighting just a bit better than they did before. Unfortunately for them, they still didn't have an advantage due to the fact that most of them were snipers that wielded chargers. This gave them a disadvantage against a team mostly comprised of shooters when playing Splatzones. There was no way they could finish inking the Splat Zone fast enough to take it before the other team retaliated, regrouped, and struck back.

Shark looked around. 'This is kinda like a date, isn't it...' His train of thought halted, his face turning red. 'Stupid brain! She's an _octoling_! A stupid, disgusting octoling!'· He shook his head. 'I need to focus on the game.' Even so, he couldn't help but look at the curves of her face, taking note of every littel detail.

Quilla looked over at him. "...Who do you think is going to win?"

He tried to calm himself. "Probably Scuttle Squad, as they seem to have an advantage right now. I assume they're going to do Rain Maker and Tower Control as well, however, and it seems that Inky Rain will have a large advantage there, especially in Rain Maker. It might end up being a tie."

Then he looked down and realized just what was happening. Scuttle Squad was getting crushed by their opponents, instead of being in the lead as he had predicted.

"So, you obviously weren't paying attention to the battle... The question is, what exactly _were_ you paying attention to?" Quilla raised an eyebrow.

The sun seemed to be particularly hot right now, Shark's face beginning to flush. "Er... I was just spacing out?" He replied, his statement more akin to a question than an answer.

Luckily for him, she accepted his answer. They continued to watch the game for a while, the overall winner turning out o be Inky Rain. Neither of them cared much about who the winner was, anyway. They left the stadium quickly.

* * *

The inkling kicked the girl in the stomach. "Stupid piece of trash!"

The girl's eyes squeezed shut. "P-please... I didn't..." She was a cuttling, with lime green tantacles. They were loose, splayed across the ground behind her as she tried curling up.

"Too bad, cuttling scum." The inkling said, kicking her again. "You cost the the game. You shouldn't even be allowed to be on a proffessional squad; you place is on your knees, sucking my- augh!"

The inkling flew across the concrete, Shark's fist hovering where he stood moments before. His breath grew heavier. "What do you think you're doing?!" He growled, standing in front of the girl. "What do you think her teammates would think of you if they saw you beating her up?!"

"Why should I care what everyone else think?" The inkling snorted, standing up. "That bitch needs to learn her place. Speaking of which..." He whistled. "You need to step out of the way before I teach you a lesson."

"Not a chance."

The inkling threw a punch that landed straight on Shark's gut, sending him sprawling. He felt the concrete conect with his bare skin, ripping it and allowing his bllod to spill. All of a sudden he felt very tired, thirsty, and sore. "I told you to STEP OUT OF THE WAY." He started to move forward...

Quilla shot towards him and slammed her fist into his face, watching him stumble backwards. She ran to him again and threw another punch, this one connecting with his shoulder; Then she started to move her fist forward again, but the inkling was ready this time and blocked it. He threw his own fist, smacking her right in the jaw.

Falling onto her back, she knew she had no chance of getting uo before he reached her. So she didn't. Instead, she dodhed his foot by rolling t the side and jumping up onto her feet, getting ready for another pinch to come her way.

Shark tried to get up, but a sharp pain ran through his back, making him go limp and crash back onto the ground. He groaned. He was probably bleeding all over the street by now; he had to calm down. A lower heart rate could make the difference between life or death, although he was certain it wasn't that bad. He wasn't going to take any chances, though.

Meanwhile, Quilla and the inkling kept exchanging punches. He didn't know exactly what was going on; it happened so fast. What was he supposed to do now?! Everything felt so sudden... He had only arrived at the stupid house a few days ago, and now he was laying, injured, on the ground as he watched Quilla fight some fuckhead. It was all too much to process... there was too much going through his head...

Shaking, he stood up slowly and readied his fists. He couldn't let her fight alone. The inkling noticed this and charged forward, aiming for Shark's back. Shark had almost no time to react, but was able to stumble away in time. What the heck was going on? He didn't even know anymore. All he knew was that he was really angry for some reason. As spots danced in front of his eyes, he swung his hands wildly, hoping to hit his enemy. But in hi confused and injured state, he was not able to land a a hit. He wouldn't be able to do anything... The frustration built up, and he didn't know why. Everything appeared out of nowhere...

Quilla looked over at Shark. Clearly, he wasn't in a very good condition, but why should she care?! He was the one that barged into her life! She hated inklings.

Shark felt something hit his head, the concrete seemed to rush to him...

...And then everything went black.

* * *

"...Really, Quilla? I can't have you go anywhere without having to worry about you getting into a fight... And thisxtime you dragged someone else into it!" Shark heard a voice say. Maybe it was Sabre?

"This time it was serious, sis!" He heard Quilla reply.

"Fine. But what are we supposed to do with... Er, what's your name?"

"V-Verde." He heard an unfamiliar voice reply.

His eyes fluttered open, scanning the room around him. He was back in the house, it seemed; he appeared to be in the main room. From what he could tell, he was lying on the couch; there was a weird feeling on his back, but he assumed it was just bandages.

He attempted to sit up, but immediately lay back down when pain ran up his back. "Take it easy." He heard Sabre say. Nodding, he relaxed his shoulders and tried to prop himself up with his arm. He managed to do that, at least.

But right now, there was only one thing on his mind... What the hell had even happened?!

 **A/N: It's short, I'm sorry, I'm stupid... I'm spending too much time playing the actual game! I need to spend way more time writing...**

 **By the way, be sure to regularly check my profile for Polls! The offical winner of the 'Faorite Splatoon Weapon' Poll was Shooter. The runner-up, Slosher, was only one vote behind! A new one will open up soon!**

 **Hope you enjoyed?**

 **Have a good thing happen to you sometime within the next twenty years! ~**

 _ **\- Fallen**_


	4. Chapter IV

**It's been a while since I last picked up the pen, but it's finally time. That's right, chapter four. Chapter fricking four. It's good to be back!**

 **TITLE GOES HERE**

Our hero, Shark, is currently unable to stand. Which, on the surface, might seem like a bad thing. But really, all it means is that he can't do something stupid to hurt himself further. Right? Right.

As Shark struggled to get up, Sabre reached a hand out to steady him

"Don't touch me." Shark said, pushing her hand away. "I don't need help." His head was still a little fuzzy. He was really confused, but what he did know was that he didn't need help from any octoling.

pprocrastinator "Actually, yes, you do." Sabre smirked. "You can hardly stand, much less move around. You need rest." She stood up."You're going to need help getting up the stairs and into your room... Or, alternatively," She grinned. "You could stay in my room."

"I'll stay in my own bed, thank you very much." Shark replied, sighing. He rubbed his forehead.

"Fine." Sabre pouted. She helped him to his feet. "Now, how to go about getting you up those stairs..."

* * *

The bus slowly came to a stop in front of Quilla and Verde, after quite some time waiting.

The door opened, and Quilla entered with Verde close behind; she earned a couple of glares from a few other passengers as she handed the driver the money for the toll. "Keep the change." She muttered.

They walked near the back of the bus, intentionally staying away from the groups of other people. Dust flew out of the leather seats as they sat down, the dim lights casting shadows across the bus. After a minute or two, the old, shaking vehicle started to move.

For a while they said nothing, not to each other nor the other passengers. But after a while... they still said nothing. If you think this is a lazy cop-out becasue I couldn't get their dialogue just right, congratulations! You are correct. Have a cookie.

Quilla had, at first, questioned why Sabre wanted her to stay with Verde while she travelled back to her own home, but now she sort of got the idea.

Eventually, the bus stopped.

Verde sighed and entered the building, slowly opening one of the glass doors and walking over to an elevator.

As soon as she walked into her tiny apartment and shut the door behind her, her shoulders relaxed. She walked into her bedroom and tossed her jacket onto her nightstand, taking off her shorts and tossing them into a hamper in the corner. Wearing only a t-shirt and undergarments, she lay on her bed and lightly sighed again. She had let herself down again, not only losing the match for her team, but also failed to defend herself. She reached over to the bookshelf next to her bed and pulled a random book off of it, beginning to read. It did help her relax, but she couldn't really rest... Not when she knew someone had been injured because of her.

She didn't seem to beable to get lost in the book, like she usually did when she started reading. Something just couldn't click... Something wasn't right.

* * *

Shark winced in pain as he lay himself down on his bed, his back spiking with pain. It felt nice to lie down in a nactual bed, however, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Do you need anything?" Sabre asked.

"Some water would be fine." Shark replied with a rough cough.

Sabre raised her eyebrows. "Is that all...?" She persisted, bending over and very intentionally giving him a better view of her breasts.

"Yes." Shark said firmly, his cheeks flushing. "That's all."

Sabre nodded and stood up. She walked out of the room, closing the door softly behind her. Shark pulled the covers over himself carefully and reached for his phone.

Turning it on, he shook his head. He hated the way Sabre toyed with him.

Meanwhile, Sabre filled a glass with water. She took note of the stack of dishes in the sink and, being the master procrastinator she was, decided to wash them later.

She enjoyed Shark's presence in the house. It was nice to jave somebody besides her sister around, after all. She couldn't really blame him for not trusting her, either; considering the part of the city he was from. Besides, his reactions were cute.

She slowly made her way up the stairs, being careful not to spill water from the cup.

She opened the door to Shark's room to find him watching a turf war live on his phone. "I thought you didn't like ink battles?" Sabre asked, bending over again to set the water down on the end table.

"I never said that," Shark pointed out, averting his eyes slightly. "I just said I didn't play them."

"Fair enough." Sabre replied.

She walked to the door. "I'll just be downstairs. Call for me if you need anything."

Shark nodded and she walked out of the room, letting the door drift closed behind her.

Now downstairs, Sabre sat down in front of her computer and booted it up, sighing as her crappy PC took forever to turn itself on. "Piece of trash."

After a small while, she pulled up her latest project and began polishing up the code... Until her phone began buzzing.

She took it out of her pocket and took a quick look. "Three days..." She muttered to herself. "Kid, you'd better be good..."

* * *

At the same time, Quilla's phone buzzed in her pocket as well. She, also, only took a quick look.

"Three days before the next job..." She whispered. "I thought dad was supposed to take care of this shit."

 **Alright, I know this chapter is short, but Imma start writing again as SOON as I start getting feedback. I just need to ask a few questions.**

 **First of all, how should I go about writing this story? How do you think things will work well? More specifically, should I have a more episodic, slice-of-life style story, or should I try to bring an actual major plot into this? Before I move forward I need to hear thoughts. Honestly I think the slice-of-life style is better suited to my writing, but that's just me.**

 **And on another, much less important note, who is best waifu? :D**

 **Hope something good happens to you sometime within the next twenty years!~**

 **-Fallen**


	5. Chapter V

**I know, I know. I don't write enough. I'll make an effort to put in more time so the story progresses faster. I will say, reading the new reviews people left really helped in pushing me to continue, and those of you who did have my thanks. And thanks to all of you who are currently reading, as well!**

 **Important Story Stuff**

Sabre heard the door open and instinctively jerked her head over to see who entered the house. It was Quilla.

"Hey, sis." She said, turning back to her computer screen. She said nothing about the message she knew they had both recieved; it was going to be brought up anyway. Might as well let someone else start the conversation.

"Three days." Quilla responded as expected.

"Yup." Was Sabre's only reply.

"Are we taking the inkling?" Quilla sat down on the couch, the old cushions squeaking under her weight.

"Of course." Sabre looked back at her. "We're counting on him. No way the two of us alone could take on Allister's guards."

"I'm sure we're good enough."

"You almost _died_ last time."

"..."

"The kid is coming." Sabre said, standing up. "As long as he agrees, that is."

"I don't like this." Quilla crossed her arms.

"You don't have to."

She said nothing in reply.

"Alright then." Sabre said, stretching her arms and walking towards the stairs. "For our sake, let's hope he agrees to help. "

* * *

Shark sat at his desk, typing up a rough draft for a project. He had faith in this one. He really did. A few sample chapters would probably be enough to sell the idea, he reasoned. Sometimes he had to write more for the work to develop enough, but not here.

In the middle of his writing session, someone knocked on the door. "Yeah?" He responded, not looking up.

The door opened to reveal Sabre. She smiled at him. "Alright kid, listen up. This is important."

Shark gulped, wondering if this had anything to do with what Quilla had told him just a few days before.

* * *

The sun shone through the windows into the lobby, golden beams of light revealing some dust particles in the air. Zephel walked toward the main desk, the sound sound of his footsteps contrasting greatly with the silence.

"ID?" The cuttling woman behind the counter asked.

He pulled out a strange looking card.

The woman nodded, pulling out a strange-looking scanning device.

He put his hand to it, and after a few seconds pulled away again.

"Alright, you've been confirmed for entry." The woman said, before putting a complex code into her computer.

Zephel walked toward a door that was pretty out of the way, and looked very plain. It made of metal, and was polished neatly just like everything else in the room.

It opened up for him, and as he stepped inside, it closed behind him.

* * *

Shark couldn't believe he was getting dragged into this.

And willingly, too. He needed the money, it's true, but to stoop this low... He wasn't exactly proud of it. And the way Quilla had warned him not to trust Sabre didn't exactly help him relax.

Of course, he didn't recognize any of the names thrown at him. Clan McMarlin, The Parade, Stingweld Ray... All these organizations were very good at remaining under the radar, obviously, considering he didn't know of them. He knew the metaphorical underground of the city had its own woven lace of politics, but what he'd heard from Sabre was completely new.

'Organized crime', she had called it. It didn't have the same chaos as the street gangs and thugs that were easily taken care of by Inkopolis's police force. Everything had a reason behind it, some alterior motive. It wasn't exactly something he wanted to get deeply involved in.

Yet here he was, getting ready to train for a job.

They were at the Dojo in the main plaza; Shark had prepared for some sort of fight because of the Octolings he was with, but he found no such thing. Even the glares they got before were few and far between. The center of the city seemed to be a lot more laid back than the outer edges, which was a bit strange. If only the housing around here wasn't so expensive.

After Sabre finished renting out a training room, the three of them walked down the hallway to the correctly numbered door. Sabre inserted they key they had just received and they went inside.

"Alright, kid, this is where you'll be spending the majority of your time for the next three days." Sabre told him. "You definitely need to train. You wouldn't be much of a help to us like this, now would you? Although, I do kind of like how helpless you are..."

Shark simply nodded, choosing to ignore the last comment.

"Alright, put this on." She said, then reached into her bag and pulled out a standard ink tank. She tossed it to him.

He proceeded to stare at it blankly in his hands.

Quilla buried her face in her hands, and Sabre sighed. "Looks like we have a lot of work to do."

* * *

Verde was anxious.

She was anxious a lot of the time, really, but the short period before games of turf war was always the worst.

Last time, she had let her team down, and she had paid for it. She was only saved by the kindness of others. How pathetic.

Of course, this time she intended for things to be different. This time, she would be more ready. She kept telling herself this, but even then, she had a growing bubble of anxiety inside of her. Being an optimist was not her strong suit.

As she stood up to leave for the location of the match, she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. She took it out and unlocked it, to see a notification for a new message. She opened it up.

She stared for a good minute before hurriedly putting her phone away, grabbing her bag, and walking out the door.

* * *

Aiming ranged weapons was hard, as Shark found out.

Not only ink weapons, but spine launchers as well. These were weapons he knew existed, but had not seen very often. Sabre had explained to him that, while ink weapons were messy and loud, a spine launcher could be easily concealed. It fired a set of two small metal needles connected by a metal wire, with an electrical current running through them. It was usually nonlethal, but enough of them would stun inklings and octolings alike, as well as prevent them from changing form. A lot of the time, they were illegally modified to have stronger electrical currents that have the potential to kill. And as he found out, he would be wielding one of the said modified weapons. He didn't quite like the idea of using them against living things, but he couldn't really back out now.

He had been training against moving targets for about an hour now. He hadn't gotten very good, but compared to how he was when he started, even Quilla agreed he was learning at a quick pace. They had also been teaching him how to use an ink weapon to maneuver quickly, which he was much worse at.

"You need to start leading your shots more." Sabre said. "When I said that before, I really meant it. You need to be predicting their movements better, too."

"That's the only thing you've been saying for a while." Shark commented, growing tired of the repeating pattern.

"Yeah, well, maybe you should take it to heart and start doing what I'm telling you to do. Advice doesn't work if you don't follow it."

"There has to be more I'm doing wrong. At least tell me _one_ other thing." He replied.

"Just be better."

Shark exhaled loudly, then focused his attention on the targets. As he fell into a steady rhythm, he began to think.

Sabre had told him they were hired on by the Clan McMarlin. She used to have ties with them, apparently, but neither she nor Quilla were actually members. He didn't know much about them, but from what he gathered, they weren't really any sort of 'good guys'. None of the crime organizations he had heard about from Sabre were, of course, but he had hoped that the one he had ended up working for was better.

The plan was pretty simple. But with no real experience, and no way to know exactly what was going to happen, Shark didn't know if he could pull through.

He'd just have to wait and see.


End file.
